Ch.89Chapter 89: A Cold?

While chewing and swallowing the last of my food,

I maintained a blank stare at Excel, whose eyes were filled with expectation.

Munch, munch.

Diligently moving my jaw to grind the food in my mouth without opening it.

Gulp.

Only after swallowing everything could I finally speak.

The conclusion was already decided.

“There are so many other knights you could challenge. Why ask me?”

It was a polite(?) rejection.

We’d been sparring since childhood whenever we were bored and knew each other’s capabilities inside out. Realistically, how much difference would there be if we sparred with real weapons?

“Ten consecutive wins.”

I couldn’t help but listen as Excel spoke with a smirk, immediately countering my rejection.

“That’s my record today against the mid-ranking knights of the Imperial Knights I was training with in the training grounds.”

Why is he so annoyingly smug about flaunting today’s sparring record?

Seeing my expression change again, Excel seemed to instinctively sense harsh words were coming, so he kept talking, explaining everything he’d done today one by one.

Unlike Shizu and me, who had used the training grounds right after breakfast,

He had taken Dan and Rufus to the indoor training grounds during the heavy snowfall at noon and achieved those results. That was all there was to it.

Still, hearing about his ten consecutive wins made me even more confused.

If he’d been winning against knights much stronger than me, why challenge me?

And with real weapons instead of practice ones, no less.

I’m confident I’d lose in ten seconds… no, even faster than that.

Perhaps it was because of my expression, subtly twisted with all these thoughts running through my mind.

Excel, quickly reading my face, smiled lightly and said:

“Lord Nighthart suggested I spar with you.”

…

…?

…??

What?

What did he say?

My mind went blank at his words, and I couldn’t help but freeze with my fork and knife suspended in mid-air.

“I figured you’d react like this.”

Excel looked at my reaction with quite an amused expression, a mischievous glint about to surface.

“Ahem.”

But perhaps his desire to accomplish his mission outweighed his urge to tease me, as he cleared his throat and continued.

“He said I was the third most impressive thing he saw today.”

He was relaying Lord Nighthart’s assessment of him.

I have no doubt that if I’d had food in my mouth when I heard this, I would have choked and spit it all out.

“…Cal?”

I noticed Shizu looking at me with a tilted head, pausing her meal as I suddenly went blank.

“…”

But even seeing this, I remained silent, focusing solely on trying to make sense of the incomprehensible situation.

“He looks so handsome even when he’s dazed…”

I might have heard Shizu’s voice saying something oddly off-topic, but that must have been an auditory hallucination from overthinking.

#

Anyway.

I ended up accepting Excel’s sparring request with:

“Fine, I’ll do it. Whatever. If I lose cleanly within ten seconds, you’ll probably lose interest anyway.”

Originally, I was going to ignore it and brush it off.

[Young one. Accept it.]

Just as I was about to express my refusal, Fafnir’s sudden voice changed my decision.

His tone was calm but strangely impatient, which made me wonder if he was provoked by how I’d teased him earlier today.

‘Are you upset about what I did earlier?’

When I asked for confirmation:

[What fool would turn down the chance to grow stronger by crossing weapons with a descendant of Burnstein?]

Unable to handle Fafnir’s cold rebuke urging me to accept the duel, I ended up agreeing to Excel’s request.

“See you tomorrow morning.”

With my acceptance, Excel’s face brightened as if he’d completed his task for the day. He waved goodbye and left the dining hall.

As his retreating figure gradually disappeared through the dining hall door and out of my sight:

“Siiiiigh…”

I unconsciously let out a heavy sigh and lightly clutched my head as worries about tomorrow filled my mind.

Ten seconds? What was I thinking with that “ten seconds” comment?

I began cursing my loose lips for boasting not about victory, but about how long I could last before defeat.

I’d have to properly face the legitimate successor of Thunder Roar, a spear technique even faster than the Radiance that Shizu and my sister use. And I expected to last ten seconds?

I was talking nonsense just because my skills had improved a bit lately.

Three seconds. That’s all it would take.

As soon as the duel begins,

Excel would close the distance, thrust with Keraunos, knock Fafnir from my hand, and place his spear tip at my throat, confirming my defeat.

This is definitely how I’ll lose.

Too quick and anticlimactic, you say?

Against the usual Excel, regardless of the natural advantage of spear over sword, I might have had a chance to hold out.

But when I accepted his request, he clenched his fists in excitement and exclaimed:

“My sister will be judging our duel tomorrow! I need to build up an impressive record and catch her eye!”

Seeing his eyes light up at the mention of my sister,

I could tell his motivation was through the roof.

Just as I show capabilities beyond my usual level when sparring with Shizu or trying to protect her,

For Excel, my sister was the factor that brought out his hidden potential.

Come to think of it, my sister said something yesterday.

That she would never accept a courtship request from a man weaker than her, no matter how many times he asked.

It’s obvious who would have pressed her enough to make her say such a thing.

None other than Excel, who had just left the dining hall.

Starting with letters, he’s been courting her so earnestly whenever they meet that my sister couldn’t help but respond in some way.

He’s probably trying to impress her by overwhelming me, who just made an impression on the fortress personnel while sparring with Shizu yesterday.

“Heh…”

A chuckle escaped instead of a sigh.

His efforts to impress the person he likes reminded me of how I used to try to impress Shizu when we were younger.

It seems that both he and I can’t help but become fools in front of the people we care about.

Well, what can I do? I’ll just have to play along, let him save face while not embarrassing myself too badly.

I said three seconds, but I should try to last at least three minutes, not just three seconds.

“Let’s do this.”

Just as I nodded lightly to boost my determination after removing my hands from my head,

Swoosh

“Mmm!?”

I was startled by an unexpected soft touch on top of my head.

I couldn’t help but feel alarmed at how easily I’d let someone approach from behind, despite being distracted.

“Hehe.”

But that alarm quickly faded at the warm laughter coming from the owner of that gentle touch.

Swoosh, swoosh

The comforting hand strokes, along with the laughter, brought me a sense of ease.

“Cal will do well.”

The voice, filled with even more kindness than the touch, was instilling confidence in me.

I turned my head toward the source of the encouraging voice.

“Hehe.”

Shizu, with a smile that warmed my heart, lowered herself to meet my eye level as I turned.

As the distance between us closed enough to feel her breath,

Thump, thump

My heart began to race intensely.

Even though we face each other like this almost every day,

My heart loses all restraint and pounds wildly whenever the distance between us shrinks.

I didn’t want to show such an immature racing heart in front of her.

Normally, I would maintain a proper distance so she wouldn’t notice, but

Now, sitting in a chair, I faced the awkward situation of not being able to stand up and create distance from her.

As my heart worked vigorously, accelerating blood flow that reached my face and threatened to disrupt my expression, I felt both embarrassment and awkwardness simultaneously.

Thinking that if she caught me like this, she’d be delighted to have something to tease me about,

I desperately tried to compose my expression, but it wasn’t working as well as I’d hoped, and I was certain my facade would soon crumble.

“This time…”

Fortunately, Shizu’s soft voice gradually calmed the blood rushing to my face.

As I noticed the extremely cautious look in her expression while she spoke each word,

My focus shifted from managing my expression to wondering why she was acting this way, a natural transition.

“S-so…”

…?

Why is she suddenly acting like this?

Just moments ago, she had a calm tone when comforting me.

Now, Shizu was not only avoiding eye contact with me whenever she spoke,

But also showing a strange flush on her face.

I shouldn’t be the one to talk, having just barely controlled my heartbeat, but

We’re surely past the stage of being embarrassed about being close to each other, aren’t we?

I waited for her words with a slight bitter smile, but

The longer my gaze remained fixed on her face,

The more I realized that the flush on her face was different in nature from one that appears due to embarrassment.

Something was off.

“After tomorrow’s duel with Excel…”

“Shizu, wait.”

To confirm the nature of that oddity, I didn’t wait for her to finish speaking and extended my right hand toward her forehead.

Carefully placing my right palm on her forehead,

“Ah…!!”

Along with Shizu’s light gasp of surprise at my sudden action,

I felt through my hand a heat that was distinctly different from the warmth one might feel when embarrassed by unexpected physical contact with someone they like.

No doubt about it.

This heat is…

“Shizu, I think you’ve caught a cold.”

It’s unmistakably the slight fever of someone who’s fallen ill.

#

The moment I said she might have caught a cold, Shizu’s reaction was dynamic.

“N-no, I haven’t!”

She immediately denied my statement while deliberately making large gestures, swinging both arms.

“I-I’m fine. I’m not coughing and I’m o-okay.”

She was insisting she was fine in a loud voice, but

Every single action she was displaying now was evidence that her current physical condition was far from normal.

Her voice was loud but slightly stumbling,

Her movements, though intentionally large and quick, were awkward and sluggish,

And while doing all this for me to see,

She kept turning her head this way and that, avoiding eye contact with me as if afraid I’d see through her condition—exactly like she used to do when we were children.

“You look like you’ve caught a cold.”

“No, I’m fine. I can still play more…”

“I can tell just by looking at your eyes. Stop lying and go inside to rest. I’ll give you medicine.”

“…Medicine is bitter.”

“…I’ll give you chocolate after you take all your medicine.”

“Oh…”

“…Look how quickly you changed your mind.”

“Hehe…ah.”

The sudden childhood memory made me inadvertently let out a small laugh, which I tried to suppress, resulting in a strange sound.

“…Cal?”

Shizu, who had been trying to avoid my gaze while pretending not to be sick, gave me a confused look, and I quickly met her eyes.

Sure enough,

Her blue eyes were slightly unfocused and trembling, easy to notice.

After all these years,

As her childhood friend and fiancé, I naturally recognized one of the typical symptoms of Lilian Shizu Proxian’s cold.

“Your eyes are trembling.”

“Ah.”

As soon as I said this, she covered her eyes with both hands, still trying to pretend she was fine.

But as the saying goes, “the thief knows his own guilt.”

By the point she covered her eyes, she must have vaguely realized that her body wasn’t in its normal state.